Egg carton



Feb. 5, 1935. e. w. SWIFT, JR 1,990,145

EGG CARTON Filed Feb. 8, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mmlmm Feb. 5, 1935. G. w. SWIFT, JR 1,990,145

EGG CARTON Filed Feb. 8, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 gw I l WU" V I IIII'IIIA IIIIIIII'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'IIIII'I Feb. 5, 1935. G. w. SWIFT. JR 1,990,145

EGG CARTON Filed Feb. 8, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I 1 M I W! I 1 "I .IW 1 MN} 1rlHw M R v N1 M mw E I .0 P n n Ma Patented Feb. 5, 1935 EGG CARTON George W. Swift, Jr., Bordentown, N. J., assignor to George W. Swift, Jr., Inc., Bordentown, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 8, 1933, Serial No. 655,687

9 Claims. (Cl. 229-28) This invention relates more especially to egg packaging cartons suitable for packaging and transporting eggs in relatively small numbers and contemplates in a general way a tray or receptacle comprising pockets open at the top and of sufficient depth to completely receive the eggs to be placed therein and a sleeve-like wrapper which houses the tray or receptacle and forms a cover for the open ends of said pockets.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction for packaging containers of this character which, while it can be simply and inexpensively constructed for the retail distribution of eggs or other fragile articles, can also be rendered strong, durable and capable of being manipulated with ease as a container for eggs in a household or in other places where it may be desirable to keep a supply of eggs on hand. For this purpose, the egg tray is preferably constructed in 'a single piece of structurally competent material which renders it light, strong and durable while in order to facilitate the insertion of said egg tray into a sleeve-like wrapper which forms with it a strong shock-resistant package wherein eggs may be safely packed and effectively protected against breakage, I employ an improved construction and relative arrangement of parts in the egg tray and sleeve wrapper which cooperate in a peculiarly useful manner. With this purpose in view, my invention contemplates an improved construction for cartons which enables said cartons to be opened and closed withease for the introduction and removal of eggs or other fragile articles.

In the embodiments shown in the drawings, my invention contemplates a form which is more especially adapted for the retail trade and for temporary storage of eggs for use in a household, or in other places where a safe storage receptacle may be desired.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of my invention showing its adaptation to a double six compartment egg carton suitable for the retail trade, the egg tray being partly retracted from the sleeve wrapper.

Figure 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the same in closed position, portions of the wrapper being broken away to show the egg tray.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the egg carton on the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 showing another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged top plan View of the egg carton shown in Figure 4 in closed position and with portions of the wrapper broken away.

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse section on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a transverse section similar to Figure 3 showing another embodiment of my invention.

Figure 8 is a plan view of the wrapper before it is formed into a sleeve.

Figure 9 is an end elevation of Figure 8'. I

According to the embodiment of my invention shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the egg tray conconsists of a unitary sheet of material suitably moulded to provide a marginal top flange 1 below which depends a double six series of integrally joined egg receiving pockets 2. Said pockets are made of suflicient depth to completely receive the eggs below the common plane of a plurality of insular platforms 3 which are respectively centrally disposed with respect to the top ets 2. ceiving openings of different groups of the pock- As shown on the drawings, the egg repockets 2 are rigidly braced and. reenforced by downwardly arched walls 4 extending between adjacent pockets in longitudinal and transverse directions and have their upwardly extending limbs joined at the top to the edges of said insular platforms 3. As shown best in Figure 3 of the drawings, the egg receiving pockets comprise upwardly enlarged upper portions and substantially ovate lower portions which are provided with downwardly presented hollow protuberances or cushions 5. Said protuberances 5 serve as buffers between the eggs and the bottom wall of the wrapper to be presently referred to. A suitable wrapper for the egg tray which is at the same time adapted to form a cover for surface of said top wall of the wrapper. In

either of these alternative forms, the corrugated strip or web '7 constitutes a substantially rigid panel which slidably engages the self-competent egg tray structure and thus permits a facile endwise movement of the latter into and out of the former.

An egg tray of this character with its applied wrapper forms a completely closed receptacle for eggs which are separately housed without any possibility of one egg knocking against another and well protected from jars and knocks from the outside of said wrapper.

I vention, inset portions 9 of the lateral walls of the pockets may be utilized to support the eggs above the contracted bottom ends of the pockets and thus adapt the bottom ends of the pockets to form cushions or buffers between the eggs and the bottom wall of the wrapper. A closure for the open upper ends of the pockets may be provided in the form of a flat web or strip 10 with a corrugated web or strip 11 interposed between it and the top wall of a sleeve-wrapper constructed of a sheet 12 of suitable wrapping material with opposite ends secured together at 12a. According to this embodiment of my invention, the outwardly presented hollow pads or protuberances 13 are adapted to form buffer spaces between the eggs and the side walls of the tubular sleeve or wrapper 12. Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, it will be understood that the hollow pads or protuberances 13 at opposite ends of the egg tray provide effective protection from jars or knocks delivered to the ends of the carton. It may be noted further that the integral structure of the egg tray forming as it does a substantially rigid grid, forms an effective supporting frame for the sleeve wrapper while the package in its entirety is self-sustaining and requires no strings or binding tapes of any character prior to its delivery to a customer or delivery agent.

Referring now to Figures '7, 8 and 9 of the drawings, an embodiment of my invention is shown which is more especially adapted for transporting eggs for distances or for use under conditions which involve heavier jars or rougher handling. For this purpose, an egg tray of either of the above described forms may be used. As illustrated, the form shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 is encased in a sleeve wrapper formed of a sheet 15 of suitable wrapping material and having its ends secured together at 15a. Secured to the sheet prior to its formation into a sleeve, is a corrugated strip or web 16 which is adapted to be presented downwardly over the open upper ends of the pockets when the egg tray is inserted into the sleeve-wrapper by an endwise movement. Interengaging with the hollow pads or protuberances 5 on the bottom ends of the pockets, is a stiffening sheet or cardboard strip 17 which serves as an effective stiffener for the bottom wall of the sleeve-wrapper while at the same time constituting a firm foundation for an inverted V-shaped truss or reenforcement 18. Said truss or reenforcement may be constructed of cardboard or rately and individually cushioned with respect to each other and in respect to external objects into collision with which the carton may be thrown.

Referring more especially to theembodiment of my-invention shown in Figures 1-, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the top marginal flange 1 of the egg tray is preferably provided with rounded corners at both ends of the form shown at the right In Figures 1 and 2. It will be understood from the foregoing description that whenever the egg tray has been completely removed from within the sleeve wrapper, it may be easily reinserted by bringing the forward edge of the marginal flange 1 into slidable contact with the substantially inflexible cushion flat or panel 7 since the rounded corners permit said flange to enter readily between the side walls of the sleeve wrapper prior to the engagement therewith of the curved outer walls of the pockets 2 and before the bottom ends of said pockets come into slidable engagement with the bottom wall of the sleeve wrapper. Furthermore, as the inserting movement continues, the round protuberances 5 at the bottom ends of the pockets readily slip over the edge of the bottom wall of the sleeve 'wrapper after which the outer side walls of the pockets come into tangential engagement with the side walls of the sleeve wrapper. It will be understood, therefore, that as the inserting movement proceeds, an increasing amount of its cross-sectionalarea enters into the sleeve wrapper until the forward end of the egg tray is sufliciently housed to prevent any hitch in the movement.

I claim:

1. In an egg carton, the combination with a substantially quadrilateral sleeve wrapper, of an egg tray constructed of a single integral web of material and comprising a plurality of pockets open at the top and of sufficient depth to completely receive eggs placed therein, said pockets having substantially ovate lower ends and upwardly widened lateral walls united at the top by insular platforms, the top wall of said wrapper being provided with a cover for the pockets adapted to slidably engage said insular platforms, a stiffening strip for the bottom wall of said wrapper adapted to engage the ovate lower ends of said pockets, and. an inverted V-sectioned member forming a wedging reenforcement between .the ovate lower ends of said pockets and the stiffening strip at the bottom.

2. In an egg carton, the combination with a sleeve wrapper, of a substantially structurally self-competent egg tray movable endwise into said sleeve wrapper, said structurally self-competent egg tray being constructed with a progressively enlarged cross-sectional area at the end thereof which is inserted into said sleeve wrapper and with a maximum cross-sectional area which is widest at the top and is contracted downwardly from top to bottom thereof.

3. An egg carton of the character claimed in claim 2, in which said egg tray is provided at the top withan outwardly presented marginal flange provided with rounded corners at the end which is inserted into said sleeve wrapper.

4. In an egg carton, the combination with an eggtray provided with laterally spaced series of pockets having substantially ovate lower ends and upwardly enlarged upper ends open at the top, of a sleeve wrapper having its top wall in slidable engagement with said egg tray at the top, and a stiffening member interengaging between the inner walls of the ovate lower ends of said laterally spaced series of pockets and the bottom wall of said sleeve wrapper.

5. In an egg carton, the combination with an integrally formed structurally self-competent egg tray having pockets provided with openings arranged in a common plane at the top, said common plane of the top openings being arranged above the top surfaces of eggs placed in said pockets, a sleeve wrapper for said integrally formed structurally self-competent egg tray, and a substantially inflexible panel slidably interposed between the top wall of said sleeve wrapper and the top openings of said pockets.

6. In an egg carton, the combination with a structurally self-competent egg tray comprising laterally spaced series of pockets having top openings arranged in a common plane above the upper surfaces of eggs placed in said pockets and substantially ovate lower ends, said egg tray being provided with insular platforms arranged in the common plane of said top openings of the pockets centrally with respect to groups of said pockets, a sleeve wrapper, and a substantially inflexible panel interposed between said top openings and inner surface of the top wall of said sleeve wrapper, said panel being constructed to slidably engage the insular platforms and top lateral edges of said structurally self-competent egg tray.

7. In an egg carton, the combination with a 'sleeve wrapper, of a structurally self-competent egg tray movable into and out of said sleevewrapper, said egg tray comprising a plurality of pockets provided with substantially ovate lower ends constructed to support the eggs in spaced relation to the bottom walls of said pockets and with upwardly contracted hollow columns respectively centrally arranged with respect to different groups of said pockets, said hollow columns being provided with insular platforms arranged in a'common plane above the upper surfaces of eggs placed in said pockets, and a corru gated web slidably interposed between the inner surface of the top wall of said sleeve wrapper on the one hand and said insular platforms and top lateral edges of said eggtray on the other hand, said sleeve wrapper being provided with a bottom wall of lesser width than the top wall in slidable engagement with the bottom ends of said pockets and with inclined side walls in slidable engagement with the outside lateral walls of said pockets.

8. In an egg carton, the combination with a quadrilateral sleeve wrapper, of a structurally self-competent egg tray movable into and out of said sleeve wrapper, said egg tray being provided with a plurality of pockets having openings arranged in a common plane at their upper ends and comprising substantially ovate lower half portions and upper half portions widened upwardly to said openings, said upwardly widened upper half portions of the pocket walls being provided with outwardly presented hollow protuberances along the side walls of said sleeve wrapper for spacing the former from the latter, and a substantially structurally self-competent cushion flat interposed between the inner surface of the top wall of said sleeve wrapper and the upper edge of said egg tray, said cushion flat being constructed toslidably engage the top wall of said sleeve wrapper for guiding the egg tray while covered thereby into said sleeve wrapper and to slidably engage the top surface of said egg tray for permitting the separate retraction of the egg tray from the sleeve wrapper. 1

9. In an egg carton, the combination with a sleeve wrapper comprising a relatively wider top wall, a relatively narrower bottom wall and inclined side walls connecting the lateral edges of said top and bottom walls, of a structurallyselfcompetent egg tray slidable into and out of said sleeve wrapper, said egg tray being provided with a plurality of pockets open at the top, said pockets comprising substantially ovate lower half portions provided with downwardly-presented hollow protuberances at the bottom for supporting the eggs in spaced relation to the bottom walls of said pockets and upper half portions widened upwardly to the top openings of said pockets, and a substantially structurally self-competent cushion fiat interposed between the inner surface of the top wall of said sleeve wrapper and the top surface ofsaid egg tray, said cushion ,flat being constructed for slidable engagement with the top wall of said sleeve wrapper and to form a slidable cover for said egg tray.

GEORGE W. SWIFT, JR. 

